Once, when my father was taking up football tickets at the field near our house, an enormous beetle with evil-looking pinchers flew down the chimney. Mother grabbed a glass jar …
Guns: The good, the bad and the ugly
Like most Southerners growing up, my father taught my sister and me how to shoot a rifle. Actually, he tried to teach us how to shoot.
When visiting my grandmother’s farm, …
Teacher role models: Job, Gen. MacArthur and dad
Recently I ran across a letter my dad wrote to me in April 1973. I was graduating from UT and had been offered a position teaching 7th grade language arts …
Very good girls go to church
As daughters of the South, my sister, Judy, and I grew up in the church. When we were home in Hixson, Tennessee, we went to daddy’s Methodist Church, and during …
Good advice from Socrates
Is it true, is it kind, or is it necessary? I’ve heard and read those words many times, often with a nod to Socrates and an internal earnest vow to …
Our Friend Brian
Dan’s retirement sawmill often brings interesting people to DanLand: Builders, Woodworkers, Woodcarvers; we see them all. A while back, we met Brian Melton. Brian carves incredible wooden busts and figures. We were …
Mildred and the bear
When Dan and I moved to our farm, we met neighbors Mildred and Dave Holcomb. Dave worked in Oak Ridge designing a spectrometer and Mildred, a born teacher, worked for …
Does anyone ever make money selling trees?
For a few years we grew Norway Spruce Christmas trees on our farm. In the summer I’d mow around them and in the fall, Dan would prune them. After eight …